CGIAR has existed for more than four decades. Over this period, our understanding of the importance of policy and institutions for the performance of food systems has grown, as has the attention devoted to these issues in the work programs of the 15 centers. The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) has taken the lead in much of this work since its establishment in 1975, but each of the other 14 centers has also invested in policy-oriented research relevant to their core mandates.

 

The launch of the CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions and Markets (PIM) in 2012 provides an opportunity to draw these efforts together, to create communities of practice of researchers, and to join forces to achieve greater impact.